UK’s Power Switch-Off Shows Future for Cleaner Energy Grid

With one of the energy companies participating (Octopus Energy) the reward was for every KW you used less than your average [1], and the average saved looks like it was about half a kilowatt (108MW saved by 200K homes - 400K homes signed up but presumably half of them used the same or more power than normal and half used less and were eligible for a reward).

So presumably this was people not using ovens, kettles, and washing machines for an hour, rather than sitting in the dark and unplugging phone chargers.

[1] https://octopus.energy/saving-sessions/

[2] https://octopus.energy/press/believe-it-or-watt-octopus-ener...

For things that are easily accessible, yes. they can be really handy and mitigate fire risk from e.g. cheapo chargers. Never switch off tv though, too much hassle.

First time I visited the US i found the plugs and outlets shockingly flimsy and unsafe compared to UK standard. (No ground pin, no covers on live pins, no switches, wobbly wall warts due to lack of third pin etc...)

Depends what it is.

Things like mobile chargers are more likely to be treated like this, you're going near the socket (and the switch) already, and it's relatively simple to flip the switch when disconnecting the phone. (Equally, plug sockets tend to be switched off when there's nothing plugged in, but that's irrelevant in the context of energy usage).

Or electric cookers, there's usually a physical switch within close reach of the cooker itself. (Although arguably the power draw of an off cooker should be fairly minimal, even with a small LED/LCD display/timer/control panel, and resetting the clock time repeatedly is... quite annoying).

For something like a TV, where the power socket may be hidden behind the TV and furniture, far less likely.

(And obviously depends on the householder caring about it at all).

I turned absolutely everything off, including central gas heating, and disconnected what I couldn't turned off. My house's use dropped to below 40W during those periods (you need to have a smart meter to take part so you know exactly your usage and the impact of turning things off) and I earned about £2 per 1 hour session so far.

They are trying to put spin on this but this is really neither positive nor, I hope, the future. Rather the grid and energy supply are f*cked and they are trying to avoid blackouts with effectively soft rationing... It has worked so far but really, these are voluntary blackouts.

And, yes, I was sitting in the dark for an hour every time.

Probably not, but right now that small inconvenience is financially noticeable. We've (2 adults, 2 teenagers) made an effort in the last 6 months to reduce our base load, result is that our December 2022 electricity usage was 75% of December 2021 - for the same house, same occupancy, same demand (light, cooking, washing/drying, showers, household tech but not space heating or other hot water).

If we go to bed and the house is using > 200watts, then something has not been turned off. Turning off our TV and the associated devices for 20 hours hours per day adds up to a nice meal out for one person each month.

For some things. For example I switch off the toaster at the outlet. It shouldn't use any power until it's activated / pressed down, but the extra safety doesn't cost me anything, so why not do it? May prevent a fire one day if something falls into it or a cat steps on just the right place.